Thursday, May 5, 2016

WBEZ AND WDCB WORK TOGETHER TO EXPAND VOCALO’S COVERAGE AREA

WBEZ’s
second channel Vocalo [link] will
reach more Chicago area listeners soon thanks to a plan crafted by Chicago
Public Media (CPM) and WDCB. Chicago
Tribune columnist/blogger Robert Feder reports [link] that the two organizations
have solved an interference issue that has limited Vocalo’s coverage area.

Vocalo is an “urban music discovery”
station created about a decade ago to serve younger and more diverse listeners
than NPR News on WBEZ. Vocalo’s music
mix continues add more Triple A to its ethnic music mix.Vocalo also
airs issue-oriented talk programming.

Since 2014
CPR has been using FM translator W217BM 91.1 FM to repeat Vocalo’s programming originating on WBEZ’s HD-2 channel. The
agreement allows W217BM to increase power its power from 10-watts to 99-watts.The transmitter is located atop the John
Hancock Center.

A map of Vocalo’s new coverage area via 91.1 is
on the right.

In exchange,
jazz station WDCB’s programming will now be broadcast CPM-owned WRTE 90.7. This
will provide additional signal coverage for suburban WDCB.

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ST. LOUIS JAZZ STATION WSIE EXPANDS
FORMAT IN EFFORT TO SOLVE MONEY PROBLEMS

Because of
budget cuts to Illinois’ University system, WSIE in suburban St. Louis will add
additional Blues programming to expand its listening base.According to Doug McIlhagga, the executive director
of marketing and communications for Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville
says”

“We've not been able to monetize the jazz
format so we've chosen to expand that a little bit by adding blues.”

If the new
programming doesn’t increase listener support, the university told WSIE
management that more drastic measures will be imposed by university. News
reports say that WSIE has three years to sink or swim. If the new plan doesn’t
float, the university says it might sell WSIE’s license.

WSIE’s funding
crunch comes as a budget impasse continues at the Illinois statehouse.
Lawmakers have not been able to agree on a statewide spending plan for 10
months and that has prompted public universities to make tough financial
decisions. WSIE is currentlyrunning
promos every hour to “keep WSIE on the air.”

______________

KMUW IS MOVING TO NEW
DIGS IN WICHITA’S OLD TOWN NEIGHBORHOOD

Wichita’s NPR
News station KMUW 89.1 FM [link] has announced that the station will be moving
soon to a new location in the city’s historic Old Town area. GM Debra Fraser
said the new spot was chosen because of the popularity of Old Town.

Debra Fraser

“It’s a great place to reach the
community,” Fraser
days. “Sitting in Old Town we can engage
more…We want that to be what we do all the time.”

The new
space has been under construction for 10 months. The construction includes new
tables that the station made from eight sections of bowling lanes from Wichita’s
Thunderbird Bowl, which closed last year.

As a
nonprofit, Fraser says the station has to be smart about resources: